KENZO takes us back to the classroom for their Spring/Summer 2023 collection. 

For his sophomore debut, creative director NIGO (Tomoaki Nagao) takes the brand’s well-known cultural diversity to new heights by also marrying styles and designs across different eras. Inspired by a 1980s show by Kenzo Takada based on a sports day, and reminiscing the preppy university look of the ‘80s Japanese fashion perspective of Parisian couture, NIGO appropriates the uniforms of American railway workers from the ‘30s-’40s with design notes from the ’70s and ’80s to the classic preppy university look.

Backdropped by sports flags you would typically see hanging from a university gym, models take the stage wrapped in NIGO’s vision. Sweaters, vests, jackets, shirts, sailor suits, and baker boy caps take the spotlight, detailed with vibrant colors and bold patterns, evoking a sense of youthful vigor. It is a retro take on the approach to streetwear that NIGO has been known for.

KENZO is a French fashion brand founded in 1970 by Kenzo Takada. He was born in Japan and moved to Paris in 1964. It is owned by the luxury conglomerate LVMH, and the label is known for its Asian influence on traditional European designs.

NIGO was appointed as the fashion house’s artistic director on September 20 last year. Prior to his new post, he worked with Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton for two collaborations, and has a standing relationship with LVMH. Aside from that he is also well known for launching BAPE in 1992. He has also worked together will Pharrell Williams to launch both Billionaire Boys Club, and his brand Human Made in 2010.

A succession that makes sense, Nagao shares his close association with the label, “I am proud to have been appointed Artistic Director of KENZO. I was born in the year that Takada Kenzo san opened his first store in Paris. We both graduated from the same fashion school in Tokyo. In 1993, the year that KENZO joined the LVMH Group, I started my career in Fashion”.